‘Farewell Frankie’: Chrome gnome needs new home

By Rachael Merritt

"Frankie", the nine-metre "chrome gnome" who has stood beside Peninsula Link for the past four years, has farewelled commuters.

The stainless-steel sculpture has been dismantled and relocated to make way for a new public installation.

Frankie the gnome (aka Reflective Lullaby by Gregor Kregar) is removed from the roadside.Credit:Frankston City Council

Love Flower by Australian artists John Meade and Emily Karanikolopoulos will occupy the space on Cranbourne Road at Langwarrin after winning the Southern Way McClelland Commission last year.

“I think it’s going to be something quite different from what is there already, and I think it will have a real sense of magic about it,” McClelland gallery curator Simon Lawrie said.

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While the exact design has been kept under wraps, Lawrie said the “monumental sculpture”, based on an agapanthus flower, will be one of the few illuminated public art pieces along the freeway.

“I think change is good and it always sparks a conversation about art and community, and I think people will be really enthralled with the new work,” he said.

Frankie the gnome – a sculpture by Gregor Kregar titled Reflective Lullaby – has been drawing the interest of tens of thousands of commuters in Melbourne’s east since 2015.

“I think there is a sense of novelty and humour about the work. It brings a smile to everyone’s face,” Lawrie said.

Although Frankie was dismantled using a crane on Thursday, Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said it would not be the last time Victorians would see the giant sculpture.

“Love Flower will be another exciting addition from McClelland to the Freeway; and it’s not goodbye forever to Frankie the chrome gnome – he’ll be popping up at another public location to be confirmed soon,” he said.

The 27-kilometre stretch of road is home to a collection of large-scale sculptures, with new pieces commissioned every two years.

“From our laneways to our freeways, public art enlivens our state – bringing art out of the galleries directly to all Victorians,” Mr Foley said.

Recent additions to the Peninsula Link include Iconoclast by Michael Riddle, a transmission tower crushed with a giant boulder, and the psychedelic creation Panorama Station by Louise Paramor.